Motorcycles and other vehicles on which a person sits in order to be transported are by far the most dangerous providers of motorized transportation for the riders. In 2008, the European accident database CARE (Community Database on Road Accidents) indicated that 5126 motorcycle riders were killed in accidents in 24 EU countries. That is 14% of the total of 37,234 traffic fatalities recorded in these 24 countries, although, according to CARE, persons riding motorized two-wheeled vehicles made up only 2% of all traffic participants (as of 2006). Compared to passengers in automobiles, motorcyclists are exposed to significantly higher risk in road traffic. This is due, inter alia, to the different driving physics and to the constantly unstable state of equilibrium, as well as to the particular physical and psychological stresses of motorcycle driving and the associated limited field of view. At the same time, motorcyclists are significantly more sensitive to weather conditions and other disturbing factors, such as poor road surface conditions or unforeseen traffic situations. In addition, the motorcycle does not have a protective body structure. In the case of collisions or accidents, despite protective clothing motorcyclists are unprotected traffic participants.
German patent document DE 19925759 A1 discusses an airbag for protecting a person from injuries, having a gas bag, a triggering device that makes it possible to inflate the gas bag as a result of an activation signal, and a sensor system that has a driving dynamics sensor connected to a vehicle, which makes it possible to determine a critical state of the driving dynamics and, after this determination, to produce the activation signal.